Storyboard:

Title:

1972 - Khim Phuc: a girl from Vietnam

Rights-Managed,
Editorial

Location and time:

Vietnam, Trang Bang, 08-06-1972

Description:

On June 8th, 1972, South Vietnamese planes dropped a napalm bomb on the village of Trang Bang, Vietnam, suspected by US Army forces of being a Viet Cong stronghold. Kim Phuc Phan Thi (born 1963) was a resident of Trang Bang and after being severely burned in the attack, she fled naked from her village. Her escape was caught on film by Associated Press photographer Nick Ut and the image became one of the most remembered images of the Vietnam War. The photograph earned Ut a Pulitzer Prize. After taking the photograph, Ut promptly took Thi to a hospital in Saigon where it was determined that her burns were so severe that she would not survive. However, after 14 months of medical attention, she returned home. When she was an adult, due to pressure from people to use her as an anti-war symbol she requested permission from the Vietnam government to go to Cuba to resume her studies. By this time she had converted from her family’s religion of Cao Dai to Christianity. Pham Van Dong, the Prime Minister of Vietnam at the time, became a friend and patron of the girl. She then moved to Cuba, after receiving permission, and met Bui Huy Tuan. They married and, in 1992, they went on a honeymoon. During an airplane refueling stop in Gander, Newfoundland, Canada, they got off the plane and defected to Canada. They now live in Toronto and have two children. In 1996, she met with (and expressed forgiveness for) the American officer who ordered the strike; she also met the surgeons who saved her life. On November 10th, 1997, Thi was named a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador. On October 22nd, 2004, Thi was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Law from York University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada for her work to aid child victims of war around the world.

Sound Bite and conversation:

Phuc, Kim

Plummer, John

(Captain of the US-Army) , speaking English: - "When I saw her in the TV, the thought hit me, to maybe finish off this story now. I was hoping that she could forgive me and finally takes the guilt from my shoulders, the weight, which I was carrying for so long."

Plummer, John

(Captain of the US-Army) , speaking English: - "After ten years of self-ruin and alcoholism, I decided to change my life. An eight-year long process started, when I tried to expose my wartime experiences and my other guilt coming from that."

Phuc, Kim

(Napalm victim) , speaking English: - "Since then, I have nightmares very often. My body was very flimsy and I had very sharp pain. I always had to cry."

Phuc, Kim

(Napalm victim) , speaking English: - "The government sent me to Cuba, for training."

Phuc, Kim

(Napalm victim) , speaking English: - "I knew I was always under control. I have been always thinking about, how I could be free and do whatever I want. This was my dream. "

Plummer, John

(Captain of the US-Army) , speaking English: - "Returning back from Vietnam, I arrived to nothing. My marriage was spoiled. I had nightmares from the case which happened to the little girl in Trang Bang, and as I had nobody to share my wounds, I took refuge in alcohol."

Plummer, John

(Captain of the US-Army) , speaking English: - "When I first saw the photo and recognized the location, Trang Bang, there was no doubt for me anymore that this was the result of the air-attack that happened because of my command two days before. I felt like a slap in my face. As I looked at the picture, the pain and suffering on the children‘s face, their scared eyes – I knew that this was the result of something done by me.
"

Phuc, Kim

(Napalm victim) , speaking English: - "I was running for a while. Then I felt hotness and became very tired suddenly. There were a lot of people on the streets and I asked for help. I was thirsty, and wanted to drink some water. Finally a soldier helped me.
I kept on reiterating, that it is too hot, too hot."

Ut, Nick

(photographer in Vietnam) , speaking English: - "Some minutes later I heard the children shouting. They yelled its too hot, too hot. Somebody was asking for help. Then four or five children came and I ran up to them, to take some pictures. Then I glanced at the naked girl. I asked her, what happened.
I took the picture about Kim Phuc, when she started to walk towards me. "

Plummer, John

(Captain of the US-Army) , speaking English: - "The air-action was successful. Everything happened according to the plan. "

Plummer, John

(Captain of the US-Army) , speaking English: - "The target was dug hostile units in the border of Trang Bang village. I was worrying about the civil inhabitants, so I asked about the situation twice, not to attack civilians, before I gave out the command to release the bombs."

Plummer, John

(Captain of the US-Army) , speaking English: - "Everything I could tell in my tears was that I am sorry. I did not want to hurt you. I am so sorry."

Phuc, Kim

(Napalm victim) , speaking English: - "I am not angry with John Plummer, even though he gave out the command to attack. I forgive him."